Loch Ness Monster
by TheLateNightStoryteller
Summary: Fitz and Simmons are on vacation, visiting Fitz's mother in Scotland. The pair decides to take a short trip to Loch Ness and, whether or not they believe in monsters, there is something fishy lurking beneath surface. Romance and adventure. Set in a future AU after the first season finale where Fitz and Simmons are together (Set after Traps but can be read alone).
1. Heaven

This story takes place in a non-canon universe after the finale where Fitz and Simmons are together and Fitz is pretty much recovered. I have written other stories in this universe and this one takes place after Traps. (But you don't really have to read any of those to read this one.) You can click on my profile for the full story order.

It takes place in Scotland but I have never been (I've actually never even been to Europe at all) so feel free to let me know if I make some mistakes with the climate, or the culture or anything really. I want to know so I can fix it.

I put a reference to the science fiction show Fringe in every chapter of every one of my stories (usually) so feel free to look out for it if you want even if you don't know what Fringe is. It may stick out as something unusual like a polka dotted cow or pet badgers. ;). Sometimes it is also a line from the show I like or the title of an episode.

Agents of Shield belongs to its creators who are stupendous :D and ABC and Marvel

/-/-/

* * *

Leo awoke to the feel of Jemma's sweet, gentle kiss on his cheek. He opened his eyes a crack and smiled at her joyful face. The morning sun shone through the open window and lightened the colour of her eyes and hair so that they shimmered beautifully, entrancing him.

"Good morning," she chirped, already sitting up and bouncing a little, ready for the day to begin.

Leo wasn't and they were on vacation so he shut his eyes again, grinning at her. "Good morning sweetheart," he murmured, already feeling the warm, grey fog of sleep pulling him back.

The bed shook as she lay back down and snuggled against him so that their foreheads touched and her arm was wrapped over his shoulders. Her embrace was so pleasant, caused such a wonderful, crinkling sensation across his body, that he let the fog recede a little to soak it in.

"I'm bored," she protested brightly. "Do you need to go back to sleep?"

He yawned and squirmed closer to her, enjoying her warm softness and curling his arm around her side so that more of him was touching her. "Yes please."

She puffed out a breath and wiggled her toes against his feet, tickling them, making the warm fog retreat a little further, too far.

"Go have breakfast if you're bored," he suggested, amused but trying again to drift back into it.

"But it isn't my house," she worried and this time he sighed and opened his eyes, even though he really couldn't see much besides her nose and her cheeks.

"My mum adores you," he assured her, rolling out of her grasp so the he was facing in the other direction and pulling the blanket over his head. "Go talk about that vet show you liked again," he mumbled. "Get it out of your system so _I _don't have to be bored for another six hours."

"We're leaving at ten," she dismissed and he could almost hear her eyes rolling. "Hardly six hours from now."

"Jemma..." he begged groggily, wanting very much to go back to sleep before then, and she chuckled at him.

"Fine, I'll leave you alone," she teased, peeling off the blanket to give him a quick peck. "I love you sleepy head, see you soon."

He felt her sit up and thought suddenly of the empty space she was leaving.

"Wait," he called, opening his eyes again as he rolled over. She stopped and he gently pulled her back down beside him so he could kiss her. "I love you too," he told her, smiling sleepily.

She chuckled him once more before head-butting him affectionately, their foreheads tapping lightly together, letting him know, without words this time, that he was precious and loved, that he was her someone. Which he most definitely was, she had his heart and his head to keep, he'd gladly given them to her long ago.

Then she patted his cheek, sprung up and skipped away, leaving him alone to fall contently back into grey.

/-/-/

About an hour later he made his way downstairs, bare feet against the familiar wood floor of his childhood, to hear Jemma and his mum laughing in the kitchen. His favourite sound ringing out beautifully from his two favourite people, after sweet Jemma kisses and sleeping in; if Leo had a heaven, this was probably it. He caught the scent of blueberry pancakes and was absolutely certain that it was.

"Good morning Monkey," his mum greeted brightly from their old wooden table. "Swing over and pull out a chair, it's about time you got out of bed." She shook her head and exchanged a glance with Jemma who scrunched her nose, amused, between stacking pancakes on a plate. "I told you dear, you need to prod him awake or he'll sleep his life away. It's already a quarter past nine." She clucked at him and unruffled his pyjama shirt, fussing over it as if he were going to a dinner recital not having breakfast at home.

"_Mum,_" he complained, wiggling away. "Do you have to... in front of..." he looked to Jemma, who was scooping a another pancake onto the stack, and a blush rose to his cheeks as she giggled at him. "Monkey?" he mouthed, disapprovingly, turning back to his mum.

Leo loved monkeys, they were adorable, but he didn't want her talking to him like he was five years old, especially in front of Jemma.

"Sorry love," she smiled, not really appearing sorry. "I just forget sometimes that my baby boy is all grown up and too old to be swinging into the kitchen."

He crossed his arms and frowned at her because she wasn't doing too well in the, 'stop making me look like a grade-schooler in front of my girlfriend,' department.

"Oh stop being a grump," Jemma scolded, setting down a plate in front of his mother. "It's sweet... Monkey." She grinned mischievously and he couldn't help but grin back.

"Stop being cute, this isn't funny Jemma," he warned but her giggles were infectious and soon the three of them were laughing together and enjoying warm, fluffy pancakes and he found it was impossible to keep his irritation from dissolving like sugar in water. Especially after he realized Jemma had used the extra blueberries to shape out two blue hearts on his his first pancake. What a sweetheart.

He couldn't believe he'd requested Jemma stop being cute, as if that were something that fell under that category of possible. Her sun-beam-smile, irresistible, bubbly enthusiasm for life and her sparkling eyes had him caught like a fish in a net on the idea that she was the most adorable person in all of existence. At least to him anyway.

"Didn't I tell you, he looks just like him," his mum was telling Jemma, holding up a DVD boxset in front of Leo so that he could only see the back of it, while the two of them gazed at the front, nodding in agreement. "Especially with his arms crossed like they were a moment ago," she added and Jemma smiled.

"I do _not _look like the young James Herriot," he grumbled. "The guy is all old-timey and wears the same clothes as my grandfather."

"It's set in 1933 Leo," Jemma informed him, not for the first time, shaking her head at him like he was being silly. He wasn't, he looked nothing like him. Nothing at all.

"Take it love, it's a compliment," his mum advised and he crossed his arms again before remembering that it was the same pose this Herriot fellow had on the cover and swiftly uncrossing them to return to his pancakes.

"We've been here a day and you're already ganging up on me," he accused between mouthfuls.

They exchanged another glance, grinning traitorously.

"We should stop teasing him," his mum decided.

"We should," Jemma agreed, taking a seat next to Leo and nudging him with her elbow. "Hey, you know we only notice because you're our guy, right?" she inquired eyebrows raised as she tilted her head to the side, smiling at him, as if it should be obvious.

"Yeah," he mumbled, a smile spreading across his own face that widened her grin. "Yeah, OK."

He gazed warmly at the pair of them, at home and family, and Jemma kissed his cheek before returning to her breakfast.

"So Loch Ness," his mum commented cheerfully after a moment. "Is there something Shield isn't telling us about dear old Nessie?" she kidded, laughing at her own joke before the other two laughed along.

"No," Jemma scoffed, pouring some syrup onto her pancakes. "There's no such thing as the Loch Ness monster," she asserted.

"It's easily explainable," Leo put in. "That company, Fleming-Munroe, testing out their new submarines..."

"Seismic gas..." she shot out.

"Ripples due to the shape of the lake.."

"Atmospheric refraction..."

"Seals-"

"Oh, I'd love to see a seal," Jemma chirped and he reached over to give her knee a fond squeeze.

'And I'd love to be there to see your adorable little face light up with delight when you do.' he thought. He'd like seeing the seal too, but it was a far second.

"Better than seeing one of those snakes," he joked and she groaned at him.

"They aren't snakes Leo, they're legless lizards," she corrected, lightly disaproving. "_Anguis fragilis_ is part of the suborder Lacertilla _not _Serpentes. They have eyelids and shed their skin in patches, not in a single layer and-"

"Alright, alright," he laughed. "Not snakes. Just slithery, scaly lizards I'm going to have to be turning over rocks to find. Here's what it'll look like when I do." He made a horrified face and feigned slamming a rock back down.

"Not snakes at all," Jemma said, pressing her lips together, he was sure to keep herself from laughing with him. "Misclassification of a species is not a laughing matter."

"Sure it isn't," he chuckled, glancing at his mum who was giggling with him.

"Of course not Jemma dear," she added.

"Now who's ganging up on who," Jemma challenged, but as he stuck his tongue out at her the damn burst, letting her wonderful, angel laugh chime through his heaven.

/-/-/

* * *

The stuff about Nessie and _Anguis fragilis _(A.K.A. Slow worms) is from wiki. There are many species of legless or almost legless lizards.

The Fringe reference is the company Fleming-Munroe. It is the aerospace and transportation division of the show's super company, Massive Dynamic. (They actually have a website as if it were a real company. I love that show so much :D.) I have used another division (Kelvin Genetics) in another fic.

Leo's mom is based on a bunch of moms I know and her calling him Monkey and telling him to swing over is based on how Sarah and Mrs. S talk to Kira (their daughter/granddaughter) in Orphan Black. (Kira is seven I think though). I thought it would fit with him haha.

James Herriot in the mini-series, The Young James Herriot, is played by the same guy who plays Leo Fitz in Agents of SHIELD (Ian DeCaestecker). It was a joke I got the inspiration for while watching Bones. There is a part where one of the interns talks about how he loves Buffy in front of Booth (who is played by the same guy who played Angel in Buffy the Vampire Slayer). I thought it was funny haha, so I googled it and put it in.


	2. There's no such thing as Nessie

"See you later Patches," Leo said, sitting cross-legged on the floor next to Patches' basket and lifting his mother's ancient cat onto his lap. The scraggly old creature was almost thirty, not unheard of for a cat, but certainly impressive.

He kissed its head and it let out a rusty purr before he placed it gently back into the basket and Jemma narrowed her eyes affectionately at how sweet he was being. Leo, not the cat. She liked the scruffy creature just fine but the warmth pouring out of her was all for her boyfriend.

"C'mon, we can't leave too late if we want to stop in Fort Augustus for deep fried pizza," she told him, standing above him and touching his shoulder.

"Ah, right!" he exclaimed, beaming up at her. "Ready for a Pizza Crunch?" he wiggled his eyebrows and she laughed at him.

"Not... really..." she admitted, thinking of all that batter.

"C'mon Jemma live a little," he teased, patting the cat once more before standing up and wrapping his arms loosely over her shoulders.

The way he took in her face, with that little smile, like she was spun from something dazzling and amazing, still made her insides twist around wonderfully. Every living thing was made of stardust but she thought, that on a few, the star showed a little more, and that Leo was one of them. Metaphorically anyway, he looked nothing like a star, he wasn't blindingly bright and continuously exploding, just beautiful from the inside out.

"I'm hoping we both live a little _longer_," she joked and he laughed at her before nuzzling her nose.

"What if we don't have chips with it?" he suggested.

"Are we allowed not to have chips with it?" she giggled, eyebrows raised skeptically.

"We can do whatever we want," he told her smugly before giving her a quick kiss. "We're on holiday."

She smiled at him and gazed into his eyes like he was spun from something dazzling and amazing.

A flash on their right caused the pair to whip their heads to the side in unison and they saw Leo's mum, she insisted Jemma call her Maggie, holding an old digital camera and smiling at them.

"Sorry," she chuckled. "I didn't mean to startle you, I just couldn't resist getting a photo." She peered at the tiny screen on the back of the camera. "It turned out lovely, I'll send you a copy."

"Mum you need to stop taking pictures of me when I'm not looking," Leo objected, frowning at her. "That one of Patches sleeping on my head is cute but it isn't cute when I'm- oh, hey, that's actually very nice." he cut himself off as she placed the camera screen in front of them. He lifted one of his arms off Jemma's shoulder and wrapped the other around her back as they twisted their bodies to get a better view.

Maggie shook her head at him. "Trying to tell me how to take pictures," she scolded. "I've been gathering family photos since before you were born Monkey."

"Sorry Mum," he laughed, smiling fondly at her. "You just don't always give me enough warning."

"What are you going to do? Strike a pose?" Jemma chuckled. "It's a lovely photo Maggie," she told his mum.

"Thank you dear," she answered. "But you two should be going now, it's a forty minute drive to Fort Augustus and then another forty minutes to Drumnadrochit. You have the hotel booked already?"

"Yes Mum," Leo assured her.

"And you'll be back tomorrow night for supper?" she checked.

"And for the rest of the week," he promised, stepping forward and kissing her cheek before hoisting up his backpack. "Bye Mum, see you soon."

"Bye Monkey," she smiled. "Be good. Bye Jemma."

"Bye Maggie," she waved.

She reached for her bag but Leo took it for her and they were out the door, heading to the car.

/-/-/

They reached Drumnadrochit at half past twelve, pleasantly full of Pizza Crunch. However unhealthy it was, it was delicious and they even ordered chips to go with it. One basket of deep fried food wasn't going to kill them, Leo was right, and Jemma had a special fondness for deep fried pizza in any form.

Once they'd gotten settled into their room, a charming little wooden one with a large bed, a small bathroom and a set of old armchairs underneath a tall lamp, they opened the brochure to decide their first stop and sat beside each other at the edge of the bed, flipping through it.

"This one looks like fun," Jemma said, pointing to a boat tour. "The photos are amazing- look at the mallard duck," she laughed. "He's stealing a ride on the boat."

He chuckled at her, pulling her against him and kissing the side of her face. "Did we just drive an hour and a half to see ducks?" he teased.

"And _Anguis fragilis, _slow worms," she added, leaning contently into him. "Can we go look around before the tour? It starts at three."

"Sure, I'll practice my expression of absolute utter horror at finding a lizard that looks like a snake, on the way there," he kidded and she rolled her eyes, laughing at him. Silly Leo.

"You'll have fun too," she promised, poking his side and he giggled because he was ticklish there.

"Uh huh," he replied, disbelieving and she scrunched her face at him.

"Lizards are fun," she insisted, pushing him playfully onto his back, leaning over him and dancing her fingers along his ribs so that he was giggling again.

"Not when... they don't... have legs..." he managed between pockets of laughter that set off tiny bursts of happiness in her stomach.

"Admit it, legless lizards are fun," she demanded, grinning and continuing to tickle him until his face was red.

"Never!" he cried jokingly, squirming around and she stopped to cover him in kisses, enjoying his wonderful scent and the feel of his soft, squishy skin on her lips. "You really aren't very good at the whole interrogation thing are you?" he teased, his expression soft, when she paused to beam down at him.

She shrugged, unconcerned. "I'm sure I could whip up some sort of truth serum, if I really needed one," she told him confidently. She was going through the logistics of it in her head, momentarily distracted, when he flipped her over and began tickle her in retaliation.

She laughed in delight and he grinned before blanketing her with his own kisses, setting off mini explosions of joy wherever they landed.

/-/-/

It was a beautiful, mild, sunny day and Jemma and Leo were walking along the shore of the lake, listening to the sound of the water and keeping their eyes open for wildlife. The land was green and rocky and surrounded by enchanting, gently sloping hills. They'd been holding hands, contently connected, until Jemma darted ahead to investigate a large, rotting log.

"Look! Look! Leo I found one!" she exclaimed excitedly, unable to stop herself from bouncing a little on her toes.

It was peering up at her from the shadow of the log, its lizardy head clashing fantastically with its long, legless, toasted brown body.

"Oh, isn't it gorgeous," she cooed, carefully lifting it and placing it in the palm of her hand where it coiled into the shape of a pretzel. "It's a juvenile," she announced, noticing how small it was. "You know they can live up to fifty four years in captivity?" she gushed.

"Did you have to pick it up?" Leo wondered, eyeing it wearily. "What if it bites?"

"I'm fine, stop worrying," she scolded gazing at the amazing little creature.

"Is that a slow worm?" a small, whispery voice inquired.

Jemma turned to see a woman, maybe a little younger than her and Leo, watching them curiously.

"Yes it is," she told her. "Would you like to hold it?"

She nodded shyly and Jemma placed it carefully in her outstretched palm while Leo watched from a few feet away.

She smiled and brought it up to her nose for a better look. "It's very pretty," she commented softly and Jemma nodded in agreement.

"It is," she concurred. "I'm Jemma," she introduced herself. "And this is Leo." Leo gave her a friendly wave.

"Jem," she mumbled, smiling. "It's short for Jemima."

"I'm glad it isn't short for Jemma or that'd get confusing," Jemma kidded and Jem chuckled quietly as she placed the slow worm back in the shadow of the log.

"There you go little one," she cooed.

"Jem?" another woman called and Jemma and Leo turned together to see her jogging towards them.

"I was wondering where you wandered off too," she teased, giving her a quick kiss before turning her attention to Jemma and Leo. "Making new friends?" she asked brightly.

"They found a slow worm," Jem told her happily. "It's under that log," she added, pointing to it.

"You and your lizards," the woman chuckled affectionately. "She's obsessed. I'm Meredith by the way, and this shy little mouse is Jem," she told them.

"They know that," Jem informed her quietly. "They're Jemma and Leo," she introduced, tilting her head in their direction and giving them an introverted smile.

"Are you two going on the boat tour?" Meredith asked cheerfully.

"We are," Leo replied, walking over to stand beside Jemma now that the slow worm was safely under the log. He could be so ridiculous with certain things. For all his courage, running into danger, risking his life for the world and for the people he loved, he was repelled by a small lizard. A _juvenile_ of a small lizard. It mystified her.

"Hoping to see the Loch Ness Monster?" she inquired and at first Jemma thought she must be joking. "Jem and I have been all around the world hunting for cryptids, haven't we Jem?" she said, grinning.

"We have," she smiled.

"We're hoping to catch a glimpse of Nessie on the tour," Meredith announced, holding up a camera. "Maybe even snap a photo."

Jemma couldn't believe what she was hearing. Poor things, caught up in the hoax, they deserved to know the truth but it would probably be best to tell them slowly, carefully. Like telling a child who was too old to believe, that the Easter Bunny wasn't the one bringing chocolate eggs.

"But... you can't really think...I'm sorry but there's no such thing as the Loch Ness monster," she informed them gently, smiling apologetically as she spoke.

"Of course there is," Meredith objected, suddenly tense.

"Mer..." Jem warned, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"No, I'm sick of these naysayers trying to tell us off," she grumbled. "How do you know the Loch Ness Monster isn't real?" She challenged, staring at Jemma skeptically with raised eyebrows.

Jemma was taken aback. She hadn't been trying to tell anyone off, she'd been trying to help them, share her knowledge.

"Well... I mean...," she raised her hands defensively. "It's a myth. There's no real evidence-"

"There are pictures," Meredith cut in stubbornly.

"None that have been verified," she reasoned, attempting a patient smile despite Meredith's mulishness. "It's likely pictures of one of the occasionally visiting seals, or bird wakes or-"

"Or the Loch Ness Monster," she added absurdly.

"I seriously doubt that," Jemma replied, laughing awkwardly.

"The Okapi, the giant squid, the platypus..." she listed persistently. "All of _them _were considered cryptids once."

"That's no explanation though," Jemma said slowly, and Leo shook his head in solidarity beside her. "Just because one completely unrelated animal exists does not mean there is any proof-"

"So you only believe in things you've been shown proof exist?" Meredith demanded disapprovingly, shaking her head as if Jemma were the one being completely ridiculous.

"Yes," she answered honestly, exchanging an incredulous glance with Leo. Was she suppose to believe whatever anyone told her, without evidence?

Meredith tutted at her. "What about love?" she questioned like she was suddenly making a point. "Don't you believe in love? Or are you too focused on facts for that?"

Jemma snorted, losing her patience at her insinuation. "Of course I believe in love, it's not like it's some sort of magical unicorn. It's an emotion, I feel it all the time and it has a well studied explanation."

"What?" Meredith laughed, taking a turn to be incredulous. She did not exchange a glance with Jem, who was looking increasingly uncomfortable with the conversation. "Oh c'mon and he's OK with that?" she jerked her head at Leo who nodded quickly and she rolled her eyes. "Fine then, explain love to me," she challenged, crossing her arms.

Jemma frowned at her. Alright, challenge accepted. "It's a combination of hormones in the brain leading to attachment, or in some cases, sexual attraction," Leo's cheeks pinkened and she shot him a reproachfully look before continuing. "I take Leo's hand," she explained, reaching down to curl her fingers around his. "And I get a release of hormones including oxytocin, which might actually help me live longer, makes me feel good, and is involved in long-term bonding and attachment. Obviously there are other things going on... that's just a small part of it."

Leo squeezed her hand. "Aww... Jemma," he murmured as he smiled warmly at her, seeming touched.

She scrunched her nose at him and smiled fondly back. 'That's one of the countless reasons I love you,' she thought blissfully. 'You understand me completely.'

"Well, when I take Jem's hand I feel _love_, like a real human being," Meredith objected hotly, crossing her arms.

What in the world did Meredith think she was? A dragon fish?

"That's what I just said," Jemma groaned. "Only I explained it a little-"

"You can't explain love," Meredith protested. "Unless you're a robot."

"Yes you can!" Jemma insisted unwaveringly, feeling a prickle up her spine and in complete disbelief at her brazen insult. "Maybe _you _can't but I-"

"Everyone aboard!" the captain called from the docks, interrupting them, and Jem took advantage of the distraction to tug on Meredith's sleeve and mumble something about being thirsty. If Meredith had been at all observant, she would have seen that the other woman had been uncomfortable the entire time, that she didn't like conflict. Then again, Jemma reasoned, it was a stretch to expect basic observation skills from someone who had tricked themselves into believing in imaginary monsters.

She huffed angrily as the pair of them departed to board the boat, glad Meredith had left before she brought out her photo album of photo-shopped creature pictures. Jemma wouldn't be surprised if she had a sloppily put together chimera with lion claws and serpent fangs pasted in upside down.

"Hey, don't let them bother you," Leo soothed, giving her a one-armed squeeze that sent a pleasant rush of calm through her. "I thought what you said was very sweet."

She turned to him, a grin spreading across her face at his affection. "_You're _very sweet," she told him and kissed his cheek before taking his hand again. "C'mon, let's go on that boat tour."

/-/-/

* * *

Thank you for the reviews, likes, reads and follows :). You are all cryptid level awesome.

Pizza crunch is a battered version of deep fried pizza. Deep fried pizza is exactly what it sounds like and I seriously want to try it someday. According to wiki it is a menu item at Scottish chip-stands but I am hoping to find some in Canada haha.

A cryptid is a creature "whose existence has been suggested but has not been discovered or documented by the scientific community." according to wiki.

The Fringe reference is the chimera. In the first season episode _Unleashed_ such a creature is let out of an animal testing facility by activists and begins mauling people to death. Poor Charlie get's infected with its babies.

The stuff about the cryptids is all from wiki and it is true that the platypus was considered a hoax at one time. Even when presented with a corpse of it, some people believed it to be a well put-together fake.

The stuff about love is a combination of what I was taught in class and wikipedia (I used it to fill in the gaps/ sorta confirm what I remembered, but it's wiki so you never know.)

The route they drove, for curious minds, is: Fitz's made up hometown of North Broxburn (somewhere near Fort William) to Fort Augustus (quick stop for yummy deep fried goodness) to Drumnadrochit (to see wormy-snake-lizards and ducks hitching rides on tour boats.)

Fitz's mother's name is Margret because I looked up the most popular names in Scotland around the time she would be born and Margret was the number 1 girl's name.


	3. Sealskin

Leo sat next to Jemma on the bench near the front of the motor-boat. It was just them, Meredith, Jem and the Captain, Andrew Gilmour, a small crew according to him. Jemma was already taking photos of the landscape and they hadn't even left the dock yet. He watched fondly as she cheerily aimed the lens across the rippling blue water, chattering away about wildlife and how gorgeous the hills were.

"What's na.. na ein...," Meredith asked curiously, struggling to read the words on the side of the boat from the dock.

"Na eínai kalýtero ánthropo apó ton patéra toy?" Mr. Gilmour offered, smiling. "It's Greek," he explained. "It means, 'Be a better man than your father.'"

"The boat has a father?" she kidded and Jemma rolled her eyes irritably as Meredith and Jem took their seats and Mr. Gilmour prepared the boat, starting up the engine with low rumble.

"Still upset?" he asked quietly, only for her ears, taking her hand and giving it a squeeze. "Just enjoy the trip sweetheart, I know you have a heart of gold."

He didn't want her grumpy the whole tour but that didn't mean he liked the way Meredith had been talking to her. Calling her a robot, what nonsense! If she'd taken half a minute to get to know her she'd have seen instantly that Jemma had a kind, beautiful soul that glowed with a soft, shimmering, unseen light. Well... the light might have been something only he could see, but she _was_ a kind person.

"I painted it to match yours," she whispered warmly, setting off joyful fluttering in his stomach, as she leaned her head on his shoulder and he kissed her lovely scented hair. "You're right, I'm sorry." she apologized. "Let's have some fun, maybe we'll see a duck or even a seal." She brightened at the thought. "Sightings are rare, there's no resident population, but it's not unheard of. Imagine seeing a pair of round black eyes peering back at you from the loch." She had that grin on her face she got when she was excited, the one which made her eyes sparkle like sunshine on choppy water. "Their physiology is fascinating," she bubbled, "when diving they slow their heart-rate and shunt blood away from non-essential organs. They actually exhale before they dive and oxygen is stored in the blood and tissue instead of in air in the lungs ... it's thought that it protects them from getting the bends. I can show you pictures of the changes in blood flow when we get back to the hotel, it's remarkable."

"If you manage to get the wi-fi working," he chuckled, planting another kiss on her head, pleased at her renewed enthusiasm. It seemed that functioning internet services were not a priority for their hotel. Soft, fluffy pillows and a full breakfast buffet were, however, and Leo found he could compromise.

"You're hoping to see a seal?" Jem asked in her soft, whispery voice that reminded him of mist on a river, smiling amicably at them. Meredith narrowed her eyes beside her as she settled into her seat but remained silent. They were quite a pair, opposites in many ways. While Jem made him think of still mist and airy whispers, Merideth was like a thorny lightning bolt, constantly moving and filled with fierce, prickly energy.

"Yes we are," Jemma answered, smiling back politely. "I know it isn't very likely but..." she shrugged.

"Maybe we'll be lucky today," Jem said hopefully. "It's harbour seals we might see isn't it? They've been known to watch people from the water, it might be where the myth of the selkie comes from."

"The Seal People," Leo put in, because his mum had told him stories of them as a child, painting pictures in his mind with her long, fanciful tales. There was no one who told stories like she did, animated and laughing loudly when they turned silly. "They shed their sealskin to become beautiful humans but then they need to keep it safe so they can return to their home in the sea." he grinned. "I used to pretend my blanket was my sealskin, when the selkie was a seal I'd wrap it around myself and swim around my room." to his side, Jemma chuckled at him and rubbed his hand with her thumb as Jem grinned back at him. "Sometimes, in the stories, a clever fisherman will steal the skin of a female selkie and force her to be his wife."

"It's barbaric," Meredith declared, joining their conversation with a weary glance at Jemma. Leo frowned at her, he didn't want this boat trip to turn into a bitter battle but if she called Jemma a robot again he was going to have to say something. The little flame in the pit of his stomach which burned in her defence would not allow him to remain silent. "Forcing someone to marry you by taking their most prized possession, taking away a part of them." Meredith shook her head in disgust. "Then they act as if it's some great tragedy when she steals the skin back and runs off."

"I know!" He concurred, remembering triumphant returns to his bedroom sea upon finding his hidden blanket (his mum always hid it in the same place, wedged under his mattress). They always seemed more of a happy ending to him. "What did he think was going to happen?"

He turned to Jemma, and was glad to see she was smiling at them. "I'd steal my skin back," she decided, apparently leaving her prior conflict with Merideth on the shore, and they all nodded in agreement. "Or my blanket," she giggled, nudging him affectionately.

"Ready to set off? Everyone have their life jackets on?" Mr. Gilmour asked, merrily. "Good." He turned his gaze to the sky which was slowly gathering stormy grey clouds. "I should warn you, this boat has no covering. If it rains you're all going to be as soaked as the bottom of Loch Ness," he chuckled. "Still up for a ride?"

"Yes," they chorused cheerfully.

/-/-/

It began well, no seals but they spotted a pair of mallard ducks paddling along, leaving tiny, overlapping wakes behind them and Leo jokingly invited them aboard.

"You saw the brochure," Mr. Gilmour guessed, chortling loudly. "I keep telling them, 'take out that picture or the ducks'll be waiting in line to board my boat.'"

They were laughing with him, five smiling faces, when there was a sudden thunk which rocked the boat sideways, almost knocking Leo over and causing Jem to grab onto Meredith's arm to avoid toppling out of her seat.

"What the-" Mr. Gilmour exclaimed, cutting the engine so that boat glided to a stop. "What could we have hit? The loch is over a hundred fifty meters deep at this point. This better not be those damn Fleming-Munroe techies testing out their sub again, if they dent my boat I'll..." he shook himself and turned back to them. "Sorry, I didn't say that," he told them frowning.

Another thud, bigger this time, which shook the boat and knocked Meredith over the side into the water, splashing loudly.

"Mer!" Jem squeaked, gripping the metal rail and staring anxiously at her as the rest of them rushed to the edge to help.

"I'm fine," she called, waving and sending Jem a wide grin. "You know I can swim Jem, even without the float suit," she teased, reassuringly.

"Swim back," Mr. Gilmour instructed, plunking down the step ladder so she could climb into the boat.

Meredith began to paddle to them but as she did an enormous, ominous shadow appeared beneath her, larger than the boat and moving rapidly up towards her. Without warning, a giant, lizard-like head erupted out of the loch with a splash, long-necked and black with dark eyes and pointed teeth that showed as it opened its jaws in a snarl before lunging at her and biting into her arm, clasping it strongly and dragging her down below the surface.

Leo, Jemma and Mr. Gilmour let out shrieks of terror but Jem remained silent and in a flash, she grabbed her bag and dove in after the creature. She did not resurface.

Before Leo could compute what the hell had just happened, there was another loud bang, causing the boat to lurch sideways and he lost his balance, falling backwards to the other side. His head smashed against the metal rail, a sharp pain making him dizzy and the world was fading to black as one more loud impact violently tilted the boat, tossing him overboard. Jemma screamed his name but he lost consciousness as he hit the ice-cold water.

/-/-/

Jemma held onto the side rail but saw Leo fall away from her, towards the other end of the boat as it tilted violently. His head collided with the opposite rail with a metallic clunk and she started towards him, her heart racing fearfully, but there was another impact which caused her to stumble forward onto her knees and he was flung, several feet away, into the water.

"Leo!" she screamed, bolting to the side he'd be thrown off of, waves of terror ripping through her.

He was unconscious, the life jacket was keeping him afloat but it wouldn't stop that thing from pulling him down when it returned. She had to get him back on the boat before that happened so she swiftly grabbed one of the life-preservers, shoved the end of the rope hastily into the captain's hands, and leapt into the loch.

She sank a few feet, momentarily shocked by the bone-chilling cold that seeped into her, before kicking out strongly and reaching the open air. The plunge beneath the surface had caused her to lose sight of Leo and, panicked, she gazed around wildly until she spotted him, then shot off towards him. It was freezing and the water quickly soaked through her clothes, dragging her down, but she was a strong swimmer and closed the distance between them in little over a minute, reaching him and securing the life-preserver around him by pulling his arms through so that he was loosely holding onto it. Fingers on his neck, she felt for a pulse and, to her relief, easily found a steady beat. He was alright, the smack of his head against the side rail had only knocked him out.

'Poor thing,' she thought sympathetically. 'He gets knocked out more often than a professional NFL player. If this keeps up I'm going to have to insist he start wearing a helmet.'

"Pull!" she called to the captain, but he'd already began tugging at the rope, lugging them back towards the boat.

A colossal shadow rose beneath them, trailing them and with a shrill of horror she realized they weren't going to make it. The creature was too fast, they didn't have time reach the boat. It was going to get them and drag them both down into the icy depths as it had done to Meredith and Jem. Unless... unless she made time.

Jemma gazed back at Leo, sweet, wonderful Leo who filled her world with love and light, and effortlessly made up her mind. He was going to be hurt, devastated, but he'd be alive. Her plan was awful and terrifying, but it was worth it, for him. He was her heart, her sealskin and she'd do anything to keep him safe, however frightening or painful.

Hurriedly, she took his face between her hands and kissed his forehead, trembling with fear at what she was about to do yet filled with resolve because nothing was going to hurt him, not if she was around to stop it.

"I love you," she murmured, staring at his beautiful starlight face one last time. Then she took a deep breath, tears stinging her eyes, pushed herself away from him and dove down towards the jaws of the giant creature.

/-/-/

* * *

Thanks so much for all the likes, reads, reviews and follows. You are all made of star dust (seriously). Well maybe not dust but definitely stars or supernovas, or what was there at the beginning of the universe. Here is a reference _The Elements: The New Guide to the Building Blocks of Universe by Jack Challoner. _

The Fringe reference is the Greek phrase on the side of the boat. I have also seen it translated as 'He is a better man than his father' but I don't know Greek (if you do, feel free to let me know what the right translation is). Anyway the translation in the show is 'Be a better man than your father.' and Peter's mom used to say it to him every night before he went to bed. It was her way of telling him to _take care of the people close to him_ because she believed Walter (his father) had failed at that.  
The phrase originates from Homer's Iliad book IV.

The stuff about the seals is what I learned from school. The prof. who taught it too me had the last name Gilmour, and I named Mr. Gilmour after her. (anything wrong isn't that she taught us wrong, it's that I didn't remember it right).

The stuff about the selkies is from wiki and a few other sites I found.

I think NFL players have the second highest frequency of head injuries to any sport. (Number one is cycling)

I haven't put their last names in the story yet but Jem is named after Jem (Jemima) Walker from the series _In the Flesh _and Meredith is named after Meredith Rodney McKay from _Stargate Atlantis. _I am pretty sure the only one who calls him Meredith is his sister though, he usually goes by Rodney or McKay.


	4. The Cavern

Leo was in a hospital room, and, unfortunately, awake. He'd been awake for almost an hour now.

"Do you need me to call someone?" Mr. Gilmour asked tentatively on his right.

He didn't reply, he was busy calculating the volume of his lamp. It was a cylinder, but not a perfect one, and there was dent on the side, he'd need to account for that.

"There must be someone," he insisted, cutting into his head and he lost track of where he was.

Damn it. He'd gotten so far that time too. He sighed impatiently and tried again, re-estimating the height and deciding on twenty two centimeters instead of his previous twenty three. He could have easily measured it with a ruler, if he had one and if he'd felt like moving, but he decided twenty centimeters was close enough.

"Can you say something? Please," Mr. Gilmour demanded. "You saw that thing too didn't you? I'm not completely insane."

Leo had to start again. He was losing patience with the other man. He'd only kept it this long because Mr. Gilmour had helped save his life and maybe he owed him or something, but he couldn't calculate the volume of the objects in his room with him asking stupid questions like a nattering mosquito and he needed to be doing calculations or he'd be consumed entirely by the agonizing emptiness inside him.

It was funny, he was usually able to focus better than this. But his concentration now was worn thin, the world was spinning and he didn't think it had anything to do with him hitting his head. His stomach hurt and he knew that it was unrelated too. He'd been told he was fine but they'd been adamant on keeping him under observation for a few more hours, just in case. Whatever, he didn't care. They could do whatever they wanted with him. They were the doctors, who was he to argue?

He bit down hard on his lip because he'd began thinking of a different kind of doctor, one that traveled through time and the person (yet another kind of doctor) who'd given him a tiny model of his time machine for Christmas one year. Blocking it out, he managed to keep in the sob but his tears came anyway, hot and wet on his cheek.

"I'm sorry," Mr. Gilmour said quickly, pityingly. "I didn't mean to- You should talk to someone, you must have someone. They'll want to know what happened."

That was a horrible idea, talking to someone, telling them what happened. It would only make it seem more real, and he didn't want it to be real. He wanted this to be a terrible dream he was going to wake up from.

"Go away," he whispered, returning to the lamp.

Mr. Gilmour sighed unhappily but he heard him lift himself off the chair, heard his footsteps clopping out the door.

The lamp wasn't working anymore and he leaned his head back against his pillow, eyes shut tight and lip trembling as he fought his tears, fought against the realization that he wasn't asleep and this wasn't a dream.

He smelled pizza, someone must have ordered a box, one of the nurses, or the receptionist. Or maybe it was in his head, maybe he was remembering a not so long ago meal in a different world.

Something inside him shifted and saw her face again in his head, sun-beam smile and sparkling eyes filled with excitement and wonder, and it was the first breach, the first crack in a series of cracks which spider-webbed through him and broke him into pieces, hundreds of tiny, razor sharp pieces.

It felt of if someone were stepping on his chest, suffocating him and a sob escaped him then another and he took his pillow and hugged it tightly, curled around it on his side with his face pressed into the fabric to muffle himself so he didn't have to hear it so loudly as he cried.

/-/-/

Jemma awoke to the glow of a soft, green light and a sharp ache in her stomach, pleasantly surprised to still be alive, but unsure why, or where she was.

Her hair and clothes remained drenched, chilling her. She was shivering and tangled up in something stretchy and slimy, like tough mucus, upright against a stone wall. Someone was moving on her right, sawing grindingly at the slimy substance and as her vision unblurred and her head unfogged, she recognized Meredith.

"W-what's hap-ppening," she asked weakly, teeth chattering as she spoke.

"Finally," Meredith grunted irritably, cutting through the substance and freeing her arm. Jemma pulled it in and flexed her hand, trying to get rid of the pins and needles. "I thought you were never going to wake up. Are all-" she shut her mouth abruptly. "Never mind," she handed her the knife and dug through her bag for another. "You work on you other arm, I'll get your legs."

"Where are we?" she wondered, cutting into the substance. "What happened to us? Why aren't we dead? Where's-" she stopped, feeling a rush of panic. "Where's Leo?" She demanded.

"How the hell should I know? I was pulled down before you were remember?" Meredith shot back. "Keep sawing."

"But-" she objected, perturbed by Meredith's lack of sympathy even as she resumed her attempts to free herself.

"I'm sure he's fine," Meredith assured her, not at all reassuringly. "... he wasn't taken by the creature right?" She questioned.

"No... I don't think so," Jemma shook her head firmly, face furrowed in determination. "No, he wasn't, I made sure of it."

Meredith let out a short, disbelieving bark of laughter. "Sure you did," she said sarcastically. "I'm sure you gave that thing a good swift kick to the face and a walloping right hook to the throat and now it's gone. No wait, then why are we here?"

Jemma liberated her other hand and rubbed her wrist, huffing crossly at Meredith. "Can we please try to get along, at least until we're out of here," she requested, attempting patience and an even tone.

"Whatever," Meredith muttered, finishing up with her legs.

Jemma sighed and jogged a bit on the spot, warming herself and flexing her muscles to push the blood through her veins, trying to un-numb her feet. She gazed around to see that they were in a large, tall cavern lit by a fluorescing green glow stick, like nothing she'd ever seen before. It cast deep shadows in the dents of the stone walls and behind the stalagmites and stalactites and painted the cavern lime with light. Kneeling, she examined it, reaching her hand out to touch it.

"Don't," Meredith scolded, pulling it away. "You'll break it."

'I will not,' she thought offended but she bit down on her tongue and kept quiet because she knew they both had a better chance of making it out of wherever they were working together. She really wished Jem was there too, she might have been able to make Meredith a little less prickly.

"Where's Jem?" she asked, wondering suddenly why she wasn't there. She'd seen her go under, she should have been in the cavern with them.

"Trying to get us out of here probably," Meredith said distractedly, shining the light around the cavern. It was dome shaped and there didn't appear to be a way out except through the dark pool of water which reflected the light of the glow stick eerily about half a dozen meters away.

"But she went under," Jemma told her gently. "It must have-"

"She went under but it didn't get her," she interrupted, unconcerned attention still on the cave, casting the lime-green light over more of the tough, slimy substance. "Ughh, it's everywhere."

Jemma placed a hand on her shoulder. "She didn't come back up," she said softly. "Meredith I am really sorry but-"

"She didn't need to come back up," she replied snappily, jerking away. "Not right away."

"I don't understand," Jemma frowned.

"Yeah, I got that," she scoffed.

"Could you stop dismissing me?" she rebuked, tiny coals of anger beginning to ignite in her sore stomach.

"Could you shut up for a minute?" Meredith shot back. "I'd like to hear it if it comes back. You believe in it now right? That scares you, it coming back?"

Truly angry now, Jemma scowled at her and was about to shoot out a hot retort when the pain in her stomach intensified horribly and she doubled over, crying out before gritting her teeth together.

"Oh crap, not already," Meredith swore under her breath as she kneeled in front of her and set down the light.

/-/-/

Leo's stomach ached and he couldn't stop his body from quaking with sobs like a never-ending earthquake, however far he buried his face into the pillow. Images, thoughts, feelings, bitter-sweet memories of Jemma escaped through the cracks and the rest of the world seemed to slip away so that he was alone in his own, miserable, painful one. He didn't think he'd ever be able to leave.

He wanted her to come back more than he'd ever wanted anything in his entire life. He wanted her smile or her toes wriggling against his, waking him up. He wanted the soft, glowing light she filled the world with to turn back on and lead him out of all this darkness but she was gone, she was gone and he was going to have to figure out way to live in it.

'No,' he objected. 'She's not gone... this is a mistake. The captain doesn't know what he saw, he doesn't know what he's talking about. There has to be some mistake, maybe he's a chronic liar or he can't see as well as he lets on and doesn't want his stupid boat taken away. Maybe he's in cahoots with the creature and they just want me to think she's gone so I don't try to rescue her. That's it, I should have known. He looked Loch Ness Monster-ey,... whatever that means.'

His thoughts were growing more and more ridiculous and deep down he knew that the only mistake had been coming here, going on that damn boat tour. However, he wasn't ready to accept the truth just yet, maybe he'd never be ready, so he kept up the idea that Mr. Gilmour was working with the Loch Monster and soon Jemma was going to fight it off, give it a good swift kick to the head, and return. He should go look for, forget the damn observation period, rent a boat and search the Loch.

'You won't find her,' the reasonable part of his mind told him traitorously.

'You can't know that,' he objected but his breath caught and fresh tears poured out of him. "Please come back," he whispered, it was the only thing in the universe he wanted. He'd give up everything else if he had to. 'Please come back, come back, come back...'

There was a hand on the back of his shoulder and he jerked away from it, whipping his head around to see who had disturbed him.

It was Jem, standing behind him with her hair dripping, clothes drenched, her eyes searching his face.

"You're dead," he told her, wondering if he was hallucinating. Couldn't he have hallucinated Jemma? Stupid crazy brain, not getting it right.

"No," she answered, shaking her head, expression serious. "No, I'm not. I know this is confusing but I need your help."

He looked away from her. "I can't help you." He wasn't useful to anyone anymore, he wasn't anything at all anymore.

"But you're Shield aren't you?" she inquired softly, gently. "Don't you want to help Jemma?"

Jemma? Didn't she know?

"What?" he sniffed, sitting up and turning around to face her. "I can't... she's..." but he couldn't say it and who the hell was this Jem to make him?

"She's alive," Jem said quietly, sending a dangerously bright beam of hope into his darkness.

"How?" he demanded loudly, getting to his feet. She had better not be yanking his chain, if she gave him hope again only to take it away he was sure it would kill him. But who would do that? Who would be that cruel?

"It doesn't eat them, not this time of year, it needs them alive," she explained grimly.

"I don't understand," he murmured, vision blurring as his eyes grew hot. He wanted to her to be right, he wanted it so very much, but how could she know any of this?

He stared blankly at her, hurt and confused and battling between the side of himself that needed to believe her and the other side that was screaming at him to run, shut himself off from the light she'd shone into him because it was only going to make the darkness that much darker when she tore it away.

"I'm sorry," Jem whispered, placing a hand on his shoulder and this time he allowed it to remain there. "I don't know how much I can tell you but she's alive, I promise she is, and so is Mer but they're in danger and I need your help. You have to trust me." She was pleading with him, her eyes round and bright as the gazed into his and he realized she was scared.

He didn't trust her, didn't even know her, but if there was even the tiniest chance Jemma was alive, if there was the slightest possibility that she needed him, he wasn't going to ignore it.

"OK," he agreed, rubbing the tears from his face and taking a big, shaky breath to steady himself. "What do we need to do?"

/-/-/

* * *

Thank you for all your reviews, reads, likes and follows. :) You are all in cahoots with stupendously great.

According to the Legend of Nessie Official Website there was a giant cavern discovered underneath Loch Ness and people think it might be the lair of the Loch Ness Monster.

The Fringe reference is the line "...it was the first breach, the first crack in a series of cracks...". Walter says this at the end of the second season episode _Peter_ when explaining to Olivia what his crossing over did to the other universe.


	5. Selkies and Kelpies

"Fitz are you sure-" Coulson began.

"She's alive," he hissed, refusing to believe anything else. The ray of hope was holding him together like a band of duct tape but he was sure he'd crack into shards again if anyone started peeling at it. "She's alive and we're going to get her."

"You should wait for us," May suggested, concern mixing with her somberness. "You aren't trained for this sort of thing."

They didn't have time to wait, Jem said it had probably implanted her with some sort of parasitic embryo. That was why she was hadn't been eaten right away but she was in serious trouble, it was eating her slowly, feeding off her energy like something from a horror film. Jemma, precious, lovely Jemma, was in danger and probably in pain, so training be damned he wasn't waiting the five hours for them to touch down, he was going to get her immediately. Jem had a plan, a decent one at that, and he wasn't going to delay getting it underway any longer.

"Fffttt, what? Did you say something?" he feigned a bad connection, blowing into the receiver. "Fffttt, oh no, damn solar flares." Solar flares? Whatever, it was possible, wasn't it? I didn't matter anyway, he was going, whatever his leader thought.

"Fitz-" Coulson began but he hung up.

"Are they coming?" Jem murmured.

"Yeah, but we can't wait, it'll take them five hours to get here," he told her.

"That's too long," she objected anxiously and he grunted in agreement. "Do you have your badge?"

"Always do," he replied, pulling it out and holding it up for her to see.

"Then let's go," she said.

/-/-/

"What's happening to me?" Jemma gasped, another terrible spasm shooting through her abdomen.

"It's implanted you with it's offspring," Meredith explained quickly, furiously digging around in her bag and pulling out a large syringe, one with a terrifyingly long needle.

"What?" she demanded, her hand bolting to her stomach, searching for what Meredith was talking about. There was a small, squirming mass noticeable when she pushed down and she grew cold, sure she'd paled a few shades, sitting down on the wet, gritty floor with a soft thud. "What do we do?" she asked, straining to keep her voice level, but it squeaked a little and she bit her lip to stop from crying out as pain erupted again around the mass.

This thing didn't belong inside of her, it being there was very, very bad. She'd read once about wasps which left their offspring in the larvae of beetles. The offspring then ate them from the inside, killing them slowly. Was it eating her now? Was that why it hurt so much? She whimpered, clutching her stomach as cold terror iced her over. A few tears slid down her cheeks and she took several deep, calming breaths. It wouldn't be any use to anyone for her to panic right now.

"You are going to be very, very brave, and let me stick it with this needle," Meredith told her, a soft note of sympathy in her voice for the first time.

"OK," she whispered, not entirely trusting her but realizing that there really weren't many other options. "What are you going to inject it with?"

"My blood," she told her, poking through her own skin with the end and drawing some out. It was a rich, purply-red. Too purple for human blood.

"What... how... I don't-" she struggled to understand before the ache sharpened again and she squeaked miserably, incredibly frightened but doing her best to be brave. 'Once I get out of here I can find Leo,' she told herself. 'I'll find him and we can go back to see his mum and snuggle together in the sitting room with their fossil of a cat and listen to her tell some of her crazy stories and have popcorn.'

There, she had a plan, at least part of one, and she really liked it too. Best plan ever.

Meredith was ready with the needle.

"This will help you," she soothed, holding it up to show her. "It'll poison it, slow down its growth and paralyze it so it'll be difficult for it to feed. Then later we'll take it out and you can check its brain for those hormones you were telling me about, alright?" she joked, smiling encouragingly.

"OK," she answered quietly. 'This will work. Then we can find a way out of here,' she reminded herself, attempting to remember exactly how deep the loch was. Could they swim out?

"Try and hold still," Meredith instructed gently.

Jemma shut her eyes tight, thinking of home and Leo, picturing him with her, holding her hand. She began humming a song they both knew, their favourite song.

'He'll be looking for you too,' she remembered, comforted by the thought. 'Unless he thinks you're dead,' her thoughts objected, comfort quickly fading. He probably did, she realized, biting down on her lip to keep the next wave of tears in. She'd been pulled underwater by a giant monster, she hadn't expected herself to survive so why would he?

She imagined his devastation, hearing the news from a stranger, all alone. Poor Leo, he got depressed when she was sent on solo missions for only a few days (he defined 'solo' as any mission she went on without him). He'd watch her leave with big, sad eyes like a labradoodle puppy and lament about being left all by his lonesome even when Skye, Trip, Coulson and May were staying with him. Then Skye would scold him, tell him to stop moping and drag him away to watch Doctor Who or get back to work while he called to Jemma that he was going to miss her for the tenth time. He dreading being apart from her for even a short while, what was he going to think of facing the rest of his life without her?

He'd be so hurt, broken to sharp tiny pieces. She felt his pain, felt it along with her own, and her tears escaped her once more as she shuddered from a silent sob.

There was a pinch, a tiny sensation compared to what the creature inside of her had been jolting her with, then the ache died down, fading to almost nothing and she sighed in relief.

"Thank you," she exhaled.

"Well, it's one less of those things I have to deal with," Meredith shrugged but she was smiling.

"What the hell is it?" Jemma wondered fearfully.

She sighed. "I guess you should know," she decided. "You'll be far more useful if you have all the information." She paused, seeming unsure how to begin as she stared into Jemma's eyes, puzzling her out, deciding how much she was willing to trust her. "Have you ever heard of a kelpie?" she finally asked.

/-/-/

"How did you survive?" Fitz asked as they drove, calmer now that he was taking steps to help Jemma, humming their favourite song in his head for reassurance. He'd just about convinced himself she'd be back in his arms, monster baby free, before the Bus even entered Scottish airspace. He'd fight off Nessie with his bare hands if he had too, or make a rocket launcher out of the car's engine. That could work, though they would have some serious explaining to do at the rental office.

"I'm what your people, the people of Earth, call a selkie," Jem explained in her low voice. "We're not exactly like the legend," she added as he opened his mouth to object, to tell her that was impossible. "We don't change with magic, it's just our biology, and we aren't from Earth we're from somewhere very far away."

"Like Asgard," he realized, gazing quickly at her, curious, before returning his eyes to the road. "But you have a... er... a skin?" he wondered.

"Yes," she confirmed patiently. "Well... I used to, I share Mer's now. A hundred years ago there was a fisherman who..." she sighed unhappily, and Leo took an extra three seconds to process what she had said. A hundred years, she must have a lifespan longer than a human's then, she still looked so young. "But that's not important," she continued. "I have her skin with me, I had it in my bag when she was taken." She paused and he shot her another swift glance, catching her miserable expression. "It's not even mine but she insists we share it as if it belongs to us both... and now..." she swallowed. "I put it on after I dove in, tried to find her, but it was too fast. It's so fast, I don't know why our people brought it here, it once hunted us but our blood has changed so that it poisons them. A bit like the monarch butterflies of this planet, filling themselves up with arsenic so predators don't eat them, but this one is so used to humans it couldn't tell the difference and it took her anyway. Maybe they thought it would drive away the competition... the humans, the Asgardians... so we could have the planet to ourselves. We do love Earth, it has such a beautiful ocean."

"So... you turn into a seal?" Leo asked awkwardly, unsure how he felt about the selkie's former plan to annihilate mankind. "Are all seals selkies then?"

"No," she replied softly. "We only look like seals, from a distance, close up there are differences."

"And you don't want to... erm... drive us away anymore?" he checked worriedly.

"No," she assured him. "We have civilized in the past few thousand years."

"How many of you are there?" he inquired, relieved as he chose to believe her and hoping she could call more of her selkie friends to help with the rescue. He wondered if she had some sort of communications device.

"Mer and I are here alone," she answered, to his disappointment. "We're part of a clean up crew. Our people came here long ago, thousands of years ago, trying to colonize and left a mess on your planet. Creatures you call cryptids, the reality sinkhole in the Bermuda triangle..."

"The what?" he gasped.

"It's not important," she dismissed, sounding nervous. "I can't... we do have a superior, she doesn't want us talking to Shield. They meddle, they did with the Asgardians, and she says we can take care of this ourselves. But the problem is we've made a mess on so many worlds... and there isn't much funding for cleanup... so it's just me and Mer all on our own trying to do it here on Earth. I'm not even suppose to be talking to you now but..." she sniffed. "I couldn't let her die," she whispered, clearly upset. "And it isn't fair for Jemma to die either," she put in firmly. "This is our mess... It was bad enough what happened to those boys a century ago."

"What boys?" He demanded, thinking fearfully of Jemma. "What is that thing that has her?"

"It's a kelpie," she mumbled. "At least that's what it's called in your language. And we should never have brought it here," she hissed, sounding angry for the first time since he'd met her.

They pulled up to the building, Fleming-Munroe was written in large silver letters over the door beside a logo of an oblong blue leaf with a triangle etched into the middle.

"Well let's try to fix this then shall we?" Leo said determinedly and she smiled at him. "Starting with getting Jemma and Meredith back." he forced optimism. "Neither of us have been in a submarine before, this could even be fun." He didn't mention that Jemma had made him swear he'd never board a submarine unless he absolutely had to, she still had nightmares about the med pod from time to time, but if anything counted as an emergency, this certainly did and besides, they wouldn't be in it for long.

/-/-/

"There is a story that the people of Earth tell, about seven boys who were taken by a monster, what they called a kelpie," Meredith was explaining to an awed Jemma. Kelpie aside, Meredith herself was fascinating, both her tale and her biology. A selkie that was actually an alien, how incredible! Jemma wondered if she'd be willing to let her run a few tests on her after this was finished. Minimally invasive of course. "They describe it as black water horse," she went on, "but it isn't a horse, it's closer to a lizard but, of course, it isn't a lizard either. It comes from my world."

"And you brought it here to kill us," Jemma recalled, frowning.

"We... have many regrets as a species," Meredith admitted. "But it was before my time, thousands of years ago. I'm only three hundred and twenty seven."

"Only," Jemma marveled staring at her wide-eyed.

"Nothing puts a stopper on that curiosity of yours does it?" she commented, almost amused. "Not even the threat of an alien monster. And no, you can't cut me open and that's all the blood your're getting unless that thing inside of you wakes up again."

"What... I didn't want..." Jemma tried to deny her accusation, blushing, but Meredith raised her eyebrows at her and she smiled back, sheepishly. "Sorry..." she mumbled.

Meredith rolled her eyes. "Anyway it was our monster which took the boys from the story. A hundred years ago, it only reproduces once a century, using a process called parthenogenesis in which it doesn't require a mate to produce offspring." Jemma knew the process, it occurred in some insect and lizard species on Earth, embryos were formed without fertilization occuring. "That year, it implanted its offspring into all of those boys, all except one." she told her. "The legend says it's because he cut off his finger and escaped but the legend is wrong. His finger was bitten off, he would have died too, been carried away into the depths of the loch, except for his silver ring. Silver burns it, you can kill it with a silver spear to the heart." She pulled the described object from her bag and it gleamed in the green light. "Jem and I have crossed off most of them, there were only three others, Mama here is the last one in this loch."

That seemed reasonable, a stab through the heart with something that reacted badly with it's flesh. A bit old-time-werewolf-legend, but reasonable.

"So... we're going to wait for it to come back and then..." Jemma guessed, not at all liking Meredith's plan.

"We'll kill it," she declared resolutely.

"And after we do that... how do we get out of here?" Jemma questioned, still trying to wrap her head around the first part. A battle with that enormous creature, she could still feel it's teeth around her arm, how strong it was as it was dragging her down. She was bruised but not bleeding, it had been careful with her, careful with it's baby's supper.

"We'll figure that out when we get to it," Meredith decided, momentary doubt flashing behind her eyes before she blinked it away. "No offence, but I really wish Jem were here."

"None taken," Jemma replied absently. Her mind was already churning, going through possible options like flashcards. It was too far for them to swim, they'd made it without a breath at the kelpie's speed but if either of them attempted it on their own power they'd surely drown. The loch was too deep. Meredith would have been fine, had she had her sealskin, but Jem had it and besides, in a surprising display of loyalty, she'd declared she couldn't, in good conscience, leave Jemma there alone. She said it was their fault she was there, their job to protect her.

Jemma was straining her creativity but, unless Jem came through with her rescue plan, it didn't appear as if there were a way out.

'We'll figure it out when we get to it,' she repeated, taking one more deep breath and steeling herself for a fight.

"That's the spirit," Meredith smiled.

/-/-/

* * *

Thanks for the likes, reads, reviews and follows. You are all out of this world ;)

All the stuff about kelpies is from wiki except the story. I found it on another website but couldn't find it again.

I don't know if selkies actually can share a skin but I haven't read anything saying they can't.

Parasitic wasps are actually pretty cute. My favourite species is _Phasgonophora sulcata. _They have these pudgy back legs and a big red abdomen. So cute, I got to work with some in a co-op job one time.

Parthenogenesis is an actual process that occurs in nature. I have heard of it in lizards and insects. According to wiki, it also occurs in sharks and birds but has not been documented in mammals.

The Fringe reference is the leaf, it is one of the glyphs (and now I really have put in all of them)


	6. To the Rescue

"We could grab onto it and ride it out," Jemma suggested, her stomach twinging at the thought.

She and Meredith sat together against the curved stone wall, wearily watching the dimly lit pool.

"What if it doesn't surface for a while?" Meredith objected. "What if it dives deeper? Or notices we're there and eats us?"

"Would it really eat us though?" she inquired skeptically. "You're toxic to it and I'm..."

"Its incubator," she offered, causing Jemma's stomach to twinge again and her hand to feel around once more for the unmoving mass. Was it in her head or had it gotten bigger? "Nah, I think it'd just bring us back here," Meredith continued. "But I still don't think it's worth the risk, unless we can't come up with anything else. Then we'll see about riding Nessie out of this place." She chuckled apprehensively.

"Yeah," Jemma mumbled, returning her gaze to the water, wishing she had gills or a scuba tank or the body of marine mammal to swim away in. "What's that light you have?" She asked, attempting to distract herself from her fear, forcing herself to stop poking at her stomach. "How does it work? Is it fluorescing?"

"It's a protein," Meredith explained, holding it up so that the shadows swirled around the cavern. "Similar to the green fluorescent protein produced by certain jelly fish that you have here. Water proof," she told her. "Perfect for the half-time seal."

They smiled together and Meredith handed over the glow stick for her to examine.

"You know... you weren't entirely right... about love." Meredith commented. "There's more to it than what's inside of you..."

"I don't understand," she answered, confused. She'd thought Meredith had dismissed her explanation and now she was saying that it was, at least partially, correct?

"There are strings, sort of pulses of energy, that tie people together. It bonds them like the bonds between atoms," she explained and Jemma raised her eyebrows at her.

"I guess if you want to believe in-" she began fairly.

"I can see it," Meredith interrupted, frowning defiantly. "How do you think I knew you and Leo were together when we first met?" she demanded.

"You could have guessed," she pointed out. "We weren't exactly hiding it."

"You weren't exactly advertising it either," she countered. "Not when I showed up. I knew because I could see it."

Jemma took a minute to digest that and decided, why not, it could be true. They lived in a world of monsters and aliens and super-powered soldiers. There were staffs hidden in trees which gave the holder super strength and viruses transmitted through electric shock. On top of all that, how strange were love strings, really? Meredith saw them, could prove to herself they were there and Jemma was beginning to think she was someone worth trusting.

"What do they look like?" she wondered, trying to picture them. In her head she saw red yarn that stretched out between loved ones.

Meredith shrugged. "It depends on the people involved, on the bond. Yours are beautiful, bright and they shimmer a bit in the sunlight," she remarked.

"Thank you," Jemma said, surprised.

She laughed. "I wasn't really trying to give you a compliment," she let her know. "I just wanted to give you a bit of reassurance. You'll find each other again, with a bond like that, you're bound to."

"Now that really doesn't make any sense," she objected disbelievingly. "People lose loved ones all the time. People d-"

"Well we're not dying," she insisted confidently, lifting the spear. "I've taken on the rest of these beasties, this one'll be no different. Then you'll be back with your sweetheart doing whatever it is you do, dissecting monster babies or something."

"He really doesn't like dead things," she mused. "That's more my area."

"Alright, looking for lizards," she grinned.

"Me again," Jemma chuckled.

"What the hell does he do then?" she exclaimed jokingly, throwing her hands in the air.

Jemma laughed with her, apprehension squirming a little towards the back of her mind. "So many things," she began warmly.

/-/-/

"Ready to go under?" Leo checked and Jem gave him a thumbs up. He wasn't entirely sure on the controls yet. The technician had given him a quick tutorial though and it seemed simple enough and after a few minutes the SS Astrid was ready for departure.

He flicked the switch and they submerged beneath the cold, dark water, beams of light shooting from the front of the submarine to guide their way.

"Is the beacon still working?" he checked, feeling slightly claustrophobic in the cramped space of the sub. He might not remember being in the box at the bottom of the ocean but the idea of being trapped underwater didn't exactly appeal to him. His discomfort was irrelevant though, Jemma was in trouble, she needed him and he could be brave for her. Besides they'd be fine, unless the sub was attacked by the kelpie.

"Yes, she's deeper in the lake," Jem told him, watching the flashing blue dot on her screen. Both Meredith and herself had tracking devices implanted into them for just this kind of situation. Leo couldn't help but wonder if Shield had implanted anything into him. Hopefully nothing too invasive...

"There," Jem told him suddenly, pointing to a crack at the loch's underbelly.

"Can we fit?" he worried, peering anxiously down at it, doing a few measurements in his head. "I think we can," he decided.

"The kelpie fit, so should we," Jem agreed.

He nodded and angled the sub, steering it into the darkness, hoping soon he'd be reunited with his beloved.

Jem could have been wrong though, he worried, a lump in his throat. What if it had decided not to use Jemma as an incubator and simply eaten her right away? What if she'd already been eaten by the monster's offspring? What if she'd drowned on the way down? What if he never saw her sweet, joyful smiling face again?

His hands shook and his vision blurred. He felt sick, fresh waves of grief rising up, but he pushed them down because he needed to focus, needed to maneuver the sub and besides, they were going to find her.

'We're coming Jemma,' he promised silently. She was alright, she had to be.

/-/-/

"Alright, I've got another one," Jemma announced, fluttering with excitement. "Time Lords, real or not real?"

Meredith laughed at her. "I'm not sure I'm allowed to be telling you this stuff." she protested, amused.

"Oh please," she begged. "You've already confirmed the Yeti and Ogopogo."

"Another kelpie," Meredith said, refering to the Ogopogo. "And dragons, sadly extinct, unicorns, wiped out by the dragons. But that one... he's not a cryptid."

"Aha!" Jemma exclaimed, catching her. "So he is real!" she gushed, grinning widely.

"I didn't say that," Meredith defended quickly. Then she sighed. "Ah, whatever," she decided. "I guess I owe you for not trying harder to warn you about the kelpie. Yes,"

Jemma squeaked excitedly.

"But he's not exactly as he is on the tele and don't you go telling anyone," she warned sternly. "And don't be searching the sky for the TARDIS, it has a better cloaking device than they tell you it does."

"I won't tell-" Jemma began but she frowned, interrupting herself. "Wait, can I tell Leo?"

Meredith rolled her eyes. "Is it possible for you to not tell Leo?" she asked teasingly and Jemma shook her head honestly.

"Fine," she grumbled, shaking her own head. "But the both of you need to keep your mouths shut, are we clear? No Yeti talk, no Ogopogo, no Doctor, not to anyone. _Especially _not to Shield. If my superiors knew I told you any of it I'd be skinned alive. Seriously, they'd take my skin."

Jemma stared wide eyed at her before she realized Meredith was refering to her sealskin.

"Oh... you thought," Meredith guessed, catching her expression. She broke out into laughter. "Your face," she wheezed, clutching her sides.

Jemma frowned, mocking offence before chuckling along with her.

The water went choppy suddenly, a shadow rising to the surface and she tensed, preparing for the kelpie to rise out, preparing to act as a distraction while Meredith hid among the stalagmites.

'It wont eat you' she told herself. 'You have it's offspring, it wont eat you, it wont-"

It wasn't the monster. A white vehicle appeared in the pool, tinted green by their light and she sighed with relief as Jem exited through the top, pulling herself out and then hopping down onto the cave floor.

Leo was right behind her and the moment he spotted Jemma his eyes locked onto her, bright, swirling pools of emotion, and he bolted towards her, stumbling as his feet awkwardly met the ground before he regained his balance.

She scrambled to meet him, feeling as if someone had pulled her out of icy water and wrapped her up in a towel when they collided, embracing each other, his body wonderfully warm and familiar against her own. He held her close, sobbing softly into her shoulder as he smoothed the back of her hair, and she rested her cheek against his head.

"I'm OK," she assured him, rubbing his back as he squeaked out a loud sob.

He sniffed and raised his head, kissing the side of her face intently several times before pressing his hot, wet cheek against hers, arms still wrapped tightly around her, and took in a shaky breath.

"Y-you're OK?" he repeated quietly, his voice high and watery."B-but the..the parasite..."

"It's under control," she murmured before she pulled back and took his face between her hands, his tears dripping around her fingers as he stared into her. He looked a mess, poor thing, pale and red-eyed, breaths short and shaky, she must have really scared him. His own hands lifted and he placed them on top of hers, closing his eyes as she leaned forward to kiss his forehead reassuringly.

"I am," she promised leaning back and meeting his gaze.

Lip trembling, he searched her face, then he squeaked again and they embraced once more.

"Does it hurt?" he fretted softly. "Were you scared?"

"Yes," she admitted. "I was scared, but I'm OK. It doesn't hurt that much anymore, Meredith poisoned it."

"I'm s-sorry," he whispered, crying again. "I should have come looking for you sooner b-but I thought... I thou-thought you..." he whimpered and she felt him shudder against her before he buried his face into her shoulder again.

"I'm not," she soothed, stroking his hair to calm him. "Everything is fine, but we need to get out of here alright?" she reminded him, forcing herself to pull back and give him an encouraging smile.

He smiled back before sniffing loudly and wiping his face, using his palm to brush the tears off his cheeks as his expression became determined, eyes narrowed and mouth set in a tight line as he nodded.

"Right," he agreed firmly, holding out his hand. She took it and they exchanged smiles once again while his breathing evened out.

"Everyone ready to go?" She called, very much ready herself to finally leave this damn monster cave.

"Yeah," Meredith replied, Jem was right beside her, gripping her hand tightly, and she nodded. "I think we'll hold off on our showdown with the kelpie, don't you agree?" Meredith grinned. "Best not to attempt to slay it in it's own lair. Besides we need to get that parasite out of you before my blood wears off."

Leo tensed beside her, turning to her with round, horrified eyes, his mouth hanging open in shock. "It's not dead?" he gasped.

She was about to reply, to tell him it was fine and that Meredith could take it out, when there was a mighty splash followed by a terrifying shriek. All four of them whipped around to see the kelpie towering over them, it's scaly body filling the cavern and blocking their only way out as it bared it's enormous pointed teeth, preparing to lunge.

/-/-/

* * *

Thanks for all the likes, reads, reviews and follows. :) you are all unbelievably awesome.

The Doctor is a timelord and the Ogopogo is BC's version of Nessie. I hope it's OK to imply that some version of him is real in the Shield universe, at least in this one XD.

The Fringe reference is the SS Astrid. Astrid Farnsworth is a junior agent in the show who is suppose to be working for Olivia but ends up being Walter's lab assistant, taking care of his frogs and holding up trays for body parts. (also helping him bake custard for Peter).


	7. Home

To Leo's surprise, Jem reacted first, darting towards the roaring monster. It sprung at her but she moved quickly out of it's path so that it came crashing down onto the cavern floor, shaking the walls and dislodging a few of the stalactites. They fell around them, shattering, but thankfully hitting no one. Meredith took the distraction to run forward, spear in hand and leap onto it's back then plunge the spear into it's flesh. It roared again and thrashed around as Meredith cursed, something about it not being deep enough, before she was thrown off.

Leo held tightly onto Jemma's hand, stepping between her and the battle, determined not to let anything happen to her. Not this time, not ever, he wasn't going to lose her ever again.

"We have to do something," she whispered worriedly beside him as Jem helped Meredith struggle to sit up and the creature towered over them.

Before he knew what was happening she'd pulled her hand free of his grasp, (she'd always been far stronger than she seemed, far braver than anyone would believe at first glance) woven around him and was running straight towards the kelpie, waving her arms and shouting at it.

"Hey!" she called. "Over here!"

"Jemma no!" he screeched starting towards her but she held up her hand to stop him, eyes on the monster.

"It won't attack me," she promised. "Stay there."

He stayed because he trusted her but it was painful, little stalactites stabbing into his chest. She seemed so small next to it, so fragile, easily torn apart by those vicious teeth, or-

Leo bit down hard on the inside of his lip, trying not to think about it, forcing himself to listen to her, to have faith she knew what she was doing.

It wasn't attacking, all eyes in the cavern were trained on it as, slowly, it lowered it's head towards her until it was only inches away from her, it's snout half the size of her body.

She was trembling, he could see it even from where he stood, breathing in quick, squeaky gasps but she didn't move and if Leo hadn't been on the verge of a panic attack he was sure he'd have been proud of her courage. But, at that moment, he really didn't have room in his head for anything other than terror, terror and a deep, powerful love that made his fear that much worse. He wanted more than anything to run to her aid but he was afraid if he moved now it would break this bizarre peacefulness which had come over the monster and cause it to hurt her.

It sniffed her, nudging her stomach with it's enormous snout and she shut eyes, whimpering while another jolt of fear seared through both of them.

"Is it in the right place?" she squeaked to Meredith.

"In what-," she whispered sharply, confused. "Oh, oh the spear," her gaze left it's face for the gleaming metal. "Yes but Jemma you're not-"

She didn't get a chance to finish because, in a flash, Jemma scrambled onto it's head and climbed like a spider towards the spear. It reared up in surprise but she managed to hold on and shove the metal further into it.

Leo thought for a moment that his heart was going to explode out of his chest and he was going to die where he stood but he held himself together because Jemma was going to need him. Besides that'd be far too dramatic a way to go and, on top of that, it was impossible for his heart to blow out of his chest, physics said no.

It screamed, thrashing around wildly, and sent Jemma flying into the wall of the cave, sliding down several feet and crumpling onto the floor, before the monster collapsed with a loud crash, sending quakes across the cavern.

"Jemma!" he screamed again, bolting to her, not caring if the creature actually was dead or not. She was already stirring when he reached her, pushing herself up and with a dazed expression on her face. "Are you OK?" he demanded, checking her over.

"I think so," she replied before she shook herself and looked back at the kelpie. "Is it..?" she breathed.

"It's dead," Meredith told them, sounding impressed, she and Jem were already investigating.

Jemma let out a breath and leaned against his chest, closing her eyes. "That was-"

"Really scary," he finished, holding her against him and gently stroking her hair, trying to stop them both from shaking.

"Yeah," she agreed.

"But you were so brave," he told her proudly, nuzzling the top of her head before kissing it. "I love you."

"I-" she began softly, before she cried out, gripping onto his shirt.

"Jemma?!" he exclaimed but Meredith and Jem were already there and Jem was carefully feeling her stomach as Meredith withdrew more of her own blood. He turned Jemma around slowly, so she was facing them and they could help her while he held her up.

"We need to get her back to our ship," Meredith told him brusquely as she injected her. Leo barely registered that she must have meant a spaceship

Jemma had fallen unconscious, her skin pale and her breathing shallow.

"She'll be OK though," he asked worriedly, eyes drawn to her face, pulled there by some force stronger than gravity. "Please, she has to be OK," he whispered.

"She'll be fine," Jem assured him quietly.

"Help me lift her," Meredith instructed, reminding him of Jemma when she was she was helping someone who'd been injured, firm and focused and to the job. He needed to be like that too, needed to be there for her, so he did as Meredith said, lifted Jemma up and carried her towards the submarine.

/-/-/

Jemma awoke to a soft kiss on her cheek and the feel of Leo's hand in her own, his thumb moving soothingly back and forth across the top of her palm. Her eyes opened and he came into focus, smiling at her, relief clear on his face alongside the warm love shining out of his eyes. He was kneeling next to her, she was on some sort of cot in a room she didn't recognize. It was strange, the walls were grey and sloped slightly inwards as they rose to the ceiling which was cluttered with pipes.

"Hey," he whispered, kissing her fingers.

"Where are we?" she asked, her throat scratchy and dry. She coughed a few times and, reading her mind, Leo helped her sit up and took a cup of water from the table beside them, offering it to her.

"I thought you'd be thirsty," he told her as she swallowed a few gulps. She handed the glass to him and he replaced it back onto the desk before leaning forward, eyes sparkling excitedly. "We're on a spaceship," he said gleefully, then he chuckled. "Can you believe it? I wonder if Meredith and Jem would let us have a look at the engine."

"We're on a spaceship and you haven't already seen the engine?" she teased, snuggling against him when he sat down beside her, resting her head on his shoulder as he wrapped an arm around her. She felt her stomach, it was covered in gauze and it ached a little but on the surface now, not inside. "They took it out," she remarked.

"Yeah," he murmured, pushing a few strands of her hair off her face with his free hand. "It's not dead though, they're keeping it in some sort of meat sack. Apparently they're endangered on their home word, the tragedy." he finished sarcastically.

She laughed at him. "It's not as if they eat selkies," she reminded him. "I'm sure they're an important part of the ecosystem there."

"I guess," he muttered. "As long as they send it far, far away."

"Do you think they'll let me see it?" she inquired, curious. What would an embryo of a kelpie look like? How did it feed, did it have teeth already?

"Of course you want to see it," he groaned but he was clearly amused and he kissed her face, chuckling fondly.

"You finally awake?" Meredith asked, poking her head in the door, Jem was close behind her, trailing like a silent shadow, though Jemma knew she was far more than that beneath her quiet exterior.

"Thank you," Jemma told them. "Both of you."

"Thank you," Leo repeated gratefully, giving her a one armed squeeze.

Jem and Meredith smiled at them. "No problem," Meredith told them breezily. "Just another day in the life of a pair of monster hunters." She struck a pose and Jem copied her, giggling. "Who you gonna call?"

"Ghost Busters?" Jemma and Leo answered, surprised.

"We watch movies too" Meredith explained, rolling her eyes. "We've only been here what, a hundred and ten?"

"A hundred and eleven," Jem offered.

"A hundred and eleven years," she let them know smugly. "How long have you been here?"

They laughed together before Jemma wiggled away from Leo, attempting to get up. She was feeling much better and wanting to explore, enticed by her surroundings and afraid they'd be asked to leave before they saw anything. Leo had already delayed seeing the engine room, sitting at her bedside, watching over her while she slept. She was thankful for his presence, for his quiet love and protection, but she didn't want either of them to miss out.

"Woah," he warned, concern showing on his face as he gently held her back. "Are you sure that's the best idea..."

"She's fine," Meredith dismissed. "We do live on a spaceship, we have some very advanced medical equipment."

"I'm alright," she promised, squeezing his arm reassuringly before placing her feet on the floor. "Can we look around? Can we see the kelpie? The engine room?" She asked Meredith hopefully.

"I'll make you a deal," Meredith offered. "Your friends get here in," she checked her watch, "an hour. If you can turn them around I'll let you see our space ship but-"

"It's top secret," Jemma finished for her.

"You're smarter than I knew," she teased.

/-/-/

"But you said Simmons had been taken by some sort of monster," Coulson objected over the phone. He was on speaker, Jem and Meredith listening closely.

"I was," Jemma admitted, "but I'm fine now. Everything is under control."

"I still think we should look into it," Coulson pressed.

"We have it under control," Meredith repeated. "No need to involve the authorities."

"Who's that again?" Skye asked curiously.

"Meredith McKay," she informed them. "At least that's my Earth name and this is Jemima Walker."

"Hi," Jem greeted shyly, waving even though they couldn't see.

"And you're from-?" May inquired.

"Somewhere else," Meredith answered vaguely. "We aren't a threat, we're trying to help you."

"Clean up the mess you made?" Trip added, and she grumbled slightly.

"Not us personally, our people, but yes," she conceded.

"Look at that," Coulson mused. "Aliens that clean up after themselves." He and the others giggled together. "FitzSimmons, do they really have it under control?" he asked.

Meredith rolled her eyes and Jem gazed at them nervously.

Leo and Jemma exchanged a glance. Did they? Considering Jemma would have been dead if they weren't there, and the fact that they'd already eliminated the rest of the monsters of Loch Ness (in theory, who knew what else was lurking beneath rippling surface of the deep loch) they thought they probably did.

"Yes," "They do," they replied together.

"I guess that's good enough for me," he decided, turning serious. "But remember we live here, and it's our job to protect this world. We're always watching and if you think things are getting out of control, if you need help-"

"We'll call you," Meredith vowed. She grinned at Leo and Jemma. "We're starting to warm up to Shield agents."

"We actually really like a few of them," Jem put in.

/-/-/

There was a clear patch where they could see the creature, feeding in the artificial environment which had been created for it, and Jemma gazed in at it, fascinated.

It attached itself to the wall with it's mouth like a hookworm and Jem said it absorbed nutrients through it's skin.

Leo kept hold of her hand, watching it wearily as if it were something unpleasant and, admittedly, she hadn't really liked it that much when it was eating her, but now that it was inside of something else and she could see it, Jemma thought it was gorgeous.

"It's much bigger than the one we pulled out of that other guy back at lake Ogopogo," Meredith remarked. "What was his name? Charlie-"

"Charlie Francis," Jem told her quietly.

"I guess it was inside you for a little longer," she said apologetically. "It should reach maturity before the pod we're putting it in arrives on our planet. I really should label it better this time, the last time we sent one of these things over it ended up in artifacts."

"Those poor museum curators," Jem mumbled.

"They were fine," Meredith put in quickly. "Just... er... surprised."

"Oh no," Leo muttered suddenly, looking down at his watch.

"We're going to be late aren't we?" Jemma guessed, frowning as she glanced down at her own. She really didn't want to explain to Maggie what had happened, she'd be so worried about both of them and besides, as Meredith kept reminding her, it was a secret.

Jem and Meredith exchanged a knowing look.

"We can probably get you home on time," Meredith offered, wiggling her eyebrows. "And have some fun on the way."

The pair beamed at them and Jemma wondered what exactly they had in mind.

/-/-/

"Buckle up," Meredith instructed, grinning as she and Jem sat down by the controls.

Leo and Jemma clipped on their belts and reached out simultaneously to take each other's hand. Jemma smiled at him excitedly, her eyes already filled with stars, as they silently waited.

The ship rumbled and they rocketed up, shaking madly, his stomach flipping around like he was on a roller coaster, and his grip on her hand tightened, filled with both apprehension and exhilaration. He glanced at Jemma to see her face was shining with delight and she was laughing.

"This is so much fun," she squeaked when she met his gaze and his heart melted, his eyes glued to her. She was so beautiful, so alive, impossibly amazing.

They soon leveled out, weightless so that when they unclipped their belts they floated away from their seats.

They were both laughing now, trying to swim around the room while still holding hands. It was awkward and Leo felt like a desert animal trying to navigate an ocean but neither of them minded.

Jemma gave his cheek a quick peck before pushing away, tethered to him still by their linked hands. "First kiss in space," she giggled.

"How do you know?" he chuckled at her.

"Well it's _our_ first kiss in space," she told him merrily, letting go to do a backwards Summersault. "Weeeee,"

Leo copied her, laughing.

"This is amazing," he breathed. "We're actually weightless!"

"Because we're falling towards the Earth as we orbit it," Jemma began happily.

"But we're going so fast that we fall around it," he continued, laughing once again. "We must be going over 28, 160 km/h."

"We're orbiting at 30, 000 km/h," Jem told them, glancing at the instruments.

"30, 000," they exclaimed together, they'd have been hopping around if they could, instead they wiggled in their spots, ecstatic.

"Jemma look, I think I can do two in a row," he called, attempting to flip twice and getting stuck upsidedown on the second one.

She smiled at him before kissing his cheek once more. "Second kiss in space," she whispered warmly as he righted himself.

Jem and Meredith watched, amused before directing their attention to the window.

"There it is," Meredith told them, pointing to the enormous, glowing blue marble once they'd made their way over. "There's home."

They were over the ocean, pure and blue and gleaming in the sunlight between swirls of wispy white clouds. He and Jemma reached out to each other again, in awe of what was before them. It was amazing, teeming with life, unique in the solar system but not, as they now knew, in the universe. Still precious though, still unbelievably precious, just like the person suspended next to him.

He shook his head. "No," he disagreed, looking at her. "Jemma is home."

She turned to him, eyes shining with love before she leaned forward to kiss him.

'Third kiss in space,' he thought, overflowing with joy.

/-/-/

* * *

Thank you for all the likes, reads, reviews and follows. You are all out of this world!

The (she'd always been far stronger than she seemed, far braver than anyone would believe at first glance) as well as the "you're smarter than I knew," is based off a quote from Winnie the Poo. The first part started out as just Fitz's inner thoughts on Simmons but then it reminded me of the quote so I changed it slightly to match it. Winnie the Poo belongs to it's creators and Christopher Robin.

Physics says no is something my cousin says to me all the time. I dunno if he knows much about physics but he is pretty smart. XD.

The stuff about weightlessness if from UniverseToday . com.

The parasitic baby kelpie and the mama kelpie's reaction to it is based off of the Alien movie series as well as the first season episode of Fringe, Unleashed.

The Fringe reference is Charlie Francis. He is Olivia's partner in the first season and in the episode Unleashed, he really does become filled up with monster babies.


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